The political gift that the pandemic has been for Joe Biden can’t possibly be overstated, and there is no more evidence of that than New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s latest piece advising him against participating in any of the debates during the general election.
I’m old enough to remember 2016 when the national media wondered in a panic whether Donald Trump would skip the general election debates against Hillary Clinton, suggesting he didn’t have the nerve to have a face-off with the Democratic nominee. Now here’s one of the New York Times’s most prominent writers practically begging Biden not to confront Trump.
“That is not a good way for Biden to reintroduce himself to the American people,” wrote Friedman on Tuesday. “And, let’s not kid ourselves, these debates will be his reintroduction to most Americans, who have neither seen nor heard from him for months if not years.”
That’s quite the endorsement from someone who spends nearly every column telling his readers how awful the president is.
How the coronavirus has aided Biden for the many, many weeks that he’s benefited is obvious. A freak new pathogen that had no proven treatment or vaccine threw the administration in a spiral at warp speed and caused a national panic that led to the devastating shutdown of a pumping economy that had never been more powerful.
Trump was thrown back on his heels, and Biden, basically 6 feet under, got to sit tight and wait, unscathed by scrutiny (outside of that little sexual assault claim that the media eventually decided wasn’t too big a deal).
Aside from the Democratic convention, that may well be the case for Biden for the entire campaign. Oh, but except he would otherwise be scheduled to perform in the only three times that voters will get to see the nominees side by side — the debates.
It’s easy to imagine Friedman letting out a Hitchcock-worthy scream when that realization dawned on him.
But, of course, Friedman can’t say the obvious — that Biden might crater facing off against Trump because he performed miserably in every one of the Democratic primary debates. So instead, Friedman cooked up an excuse the former vice president could use to decline participation.
“I worry about Joe Biden debating Donald Trump,” wrote Friedman, once again showing the great confidence he has in Biden’s candidacy. “He should do it only under two conditions. Otherwise, he’s giving Trump unfair advantages.”
In order for Biden to agree to a debate, Friedman said, he should demand that Trump release his tax returns and that real-time “fact-checkers” be involved during the event.
Journalists will never give up on the tax returns that truly make no difference for voters — during the Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders released 10 years’ worth, and no one even noticed — but the call for fact-checking is ridiculous.
That whole profession has become a joke in the last four years. The “fact checks” are so often off the mark that any right-leaning candidate for office, any office, would be an idiot for agreeing to their participation in a debate.
Last week, the Washington Post engaged in a fact check of Trump for claiming that the top 20 most dangerous cities in the United States are run by Democrats. “Trump keeps claiming that the most dangerous cities in America are all run by Democrats,” the headline on the piece said. “They aren’t.”
Strong rebuke. How’d they come to that conclusion? Because one city out of the 20 with the most violent crime is led by a mayor registered as an independent.
See? Joke.
Friedman concluded his column by telling Biden that if he can’t get Trump to agree to those two laughable demands, “Stay in your basement.”
Those debates are going to be very rough for Democrats.
